Epic

Ok so I have FINALLY started to catch up on my reading.  After apx 200 hours spent on an ambulance or in a fire station I desperately needed the reading time.  One of the books that got me through the epic shift of crazy was Epic: Legends of Fantasy edited by John Joseph Adams.  It is a short story collection featuring authors who have set these stories in their previously written epic, sweeping worlds and it hit the spot. Here are a few of my favorite.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

 Homecoming by Robin Hobb - I was totally stoked to see the first story was by one of my current favorite authors AND set in my favorite world that this author writes in.  The story is a pre-qual to her Rain Wilds world and gives readers of her books a bit of a glimpse into how this harsh land was settled.  The author brings her signature in depth characters and an amazing ability to paint a world that feels real and complete with out over explaining things.

The Alchemist by Paolo Bacciglupi - This was a complete story with a beginning, middle and end...which is usually very hard to do in a short story format.  The story is about a man who risks everything to save his small family.  When he comes up with a solution to save his world, it is taken by the government and used to control what is left of the population.  The world was inventive and complete, the characters detailed and realistic and the story was both entertaining and nuanced.  I loved every page of this story and am now inspired to pick up a book by this guy as I have never read him before...I love it when that happens.

The Road to Levinshire by Patrick Rothfuss - This story set in a world I now want to go read about is both sad and very very good.  It shows what happens when people make assumptions, especially about whole groups of people.  There is trauma, violence and hopefully a change of thinking when a man goes through some pretty extreme measures to change peoples perspective on pre conceived notions.  This is a story of ideas, which I always find the short story format is perfect for.  This is another author I am now going to look up.

Bound Man by Mary Robinette Kowal - Two different worlds and two different times define this story.  A warrior woman is called from her time and world against her will by a man who considers her a god.  She goes through many emotions trying to figure out why everything happened the way it did.  I love stories like this that essentially turn inside out on themselves.  The contrast between the two characters, what they knew and how they felt about the current situation made for plenty to think about and was a fantastic read.

The Mystery Knight by George R. R. Martin - At this point I am sure the majority of fantasy fans have at least heard of The Song of Ice and Fire series and this entry into that universe is pretty much perfect.  It sets the story in a bit of history of the world of the Seven Kingdoms, but it is not required for a person to have read the series to enjoy it.  It is the quintessential jousting tournament/wedding/knights tale that seems to be the basis for what one would consider "classical" fantasy and it delivers every bit of castlely goodness one could want.

One of my favorite things about this collection was actually the introduction that FINALLY summed up what it is that I love about epic fantasy...seriously go read it.  The only real flaw I could come up with is that several of these stories...while they can be read and enjoyed by anybody...probably are most fully appreciated if the reader has read other books that set up the world the stories are set in...does that make any sense at all?  Anyways, this collection lived up to it's promise of EPIC.  I loved the stories set in the worlds I know and now have a couple of new authors to look up.  I give this collection 7 out of 10 demonic swords and recommend it to anybody who loves a well built world and epic fantasy!  Happy Reading Everybody!

The Bells Of Death

Are we ready for some rambling?  Good 'cause here we go! Have you ever had the experience of picking up the perfect book for the perfect moment?  I started this book with no real idea of what it was about, other then I had seen it since I was little and that many people recommended it.  What I found was a great book that perfectly fit the cold and bleak atmosphere that has been pervading the East Coast this winter.  The book is Sabriel, the first book in the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD.

This book is set in two very different realms within the same world.  There is Ancelstierre, a 1900ish era world that has science, cars, guns and the like.  In the north, separated by the Wall is the Old Kingdom, a land full of magic.  Our story centers on Sabriel, the daughter of a man called Abhorsen and sent from the Old Kingdom to live beyond the wall in a boarding school.  She receives an education not only in the normal stuff, but in the basics of what is called Charter Magic, which is what they call people who wield the "good" magic from the Old Kingdom.  Sabriel has plenty of contact with her father who teaches her to enter and walk among death, instructing her in the use of various Charter laden bells to help control the dead who seek to rejoin the living.  While at school she is visited by a shade messenger who brings her fathers bells and sword, signifying that her father can no longer use them.  Sabriel crosses the wall and is set upon by a dead creature who is intent on
killing her.  She narrowly escapes and finds her fathers house and learns that the term Abhorsen is the name given to the person who holds the office of Necromancer.  Unlike most stories, this is not a bad thing.  In this realm the Abhorsen work with death to make sure that the Free Magic (usually bad magic) is not used by the dead, or evil people to use the dead for unsavory purposes.  She meets Mogget, a Free Magic creature that has been contained in a cats body.  She continues her hurried education by learning that the Royal Family, who is instrumental to the health of the kingdom has disappeared.  After yet another dead minion tries to get her, she sets out to find her father and figure out just what the heck is going on.   Mogget joins her and she uses a construct from a previous Abhorsen to fly out of the residence.  She eventually finds one of the great Charter Stones cracked...which is really really bad as these are part of what keeps the good magic good.  She ends up down in a reservoir, rescuing a guy who appears to be in suspended animation from death.  Turns out he is a bastard prince who watched his half brother murder the Queen and Princesses to break the great Charter Stones.  The three of them set out to fight the undead shade of the princes brother and have various adventures in the old kingdom.  Eventually they learn that his body is in Ancelstierre and Sabriel and co head there to stop him.  Sabriel eventually finds her father, who is pretty much dead, but is able to help her out.  Sabriel and her friends convince the guard at the wall (who have some experience with the Free Magic) to help defend them until they can destroy the bad guy's body.  Much magic, death and mayhem occur, culminating in the destruction of the bad guys body, and apparently the victory of Sabriel and her friends.  The End.

Contrary to the brief and probably confusing synopsis I very much enjoyed this book.  The story hooked me from the first page and I kept turning them until the very end.  So what did I like.  I very much enjoyed the idea of two different realms occupying the same world and how they developed completely differently from each other.  I always wonder how a world with magic would develop, what technologies would and would not need to be invented and so forth.  This story does a bit of comparing and contrasting which I enjoyed.  Sabriel was a good character, capable, realistic and  aware of the gaps in her education.  She wants to go and get things done, but is able to actually plan and listen to her advisers without being a push over.  The atmosphere, especially on the Old Kingdom side with it's freezing bleakness was a perfect visualization of a glorious kingdom gone to seed.  I liked how death in this world worked, with it's various gates and levels gave a Dante's Inferno type feel to the whole thing, while still being very original and very complete.  The various tools the

Abhorsen had to deal with the dead were pretty cool too.  I loved the idea that the necromancers where no necessarily the bad guys in this story.  To often death is associated with evil, and while there were bad necromancers, the Abhorsen were good, necessary and revered.  What was not so awesome was a bit of ambiguity when it came to the history of the Old Kingdom and how the magic worked.  The author seemed to have a pretty rich back story to this world in mind as he wrote this book, and I got bits and pieces of it but for the most part you just kinda had to go along with it. I want to know about the Charter Magic, and the various lines of people/beings who created it, I want to know how the two separate realms came to be, and I want to know some of the personal history behind some of the various towns and peoples.  I'm hoping this is remedied in future books.  Speaking of future books, the ending to this one was way to abrupt for my taste.  I felt like we got this great story, a huge build up, a fabulous battle and that was it.  There was no real ending for any of the characters, just a bit of "Oh hey we won awesome so the stories over right?" type of vibe.  Overall a good read, a good story, good characters, and an original, fairly well executed idea. The whole book has a very neat vibe to it that I enjoyed very much.  I recommend it for anybody looking for something a bit familiar and a bit different at the same time, somebody who needs a good winter book, or just a good book.   I give it 8 out of 10 Charter Marks and will be picking up the next one shortly.
How do you feel about Death as a good thing?  How much time do you think I spend thinking about the logistics of theoretical worlds?  What other books have I been missing out on?

It's Ok To Be A Girl

One of the few good things about the holiday's being over is that I can get back to my normal reading pattern.  I always feel a bit nostalgic right after the holidays and since for once I didn't have a deadline looming over me, I picked up one of my favorite series by one of my favorite authors.  I read Alanna: The First Adventure, the first book in the Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce.  How did it hold up over the years?  I'll tell you, but first, as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

Alanna and Thom are pre-teen twins with a crappy father (as all good MG/YA books start).  They both have the Gift, a form of magic certain people posses in the realm of Tortall.  To this end, Thom wants to become a mage, and Alanna wants to become a night, the problem being that females can't become knights, and their father insists that Thom go become a knight instead of a mage.  They decide to switch places and Thom goes on to the City of the Gods to become a mage ('cause both guys and gals can practice magic) and Alanna becomes Alan and signs up to be a Page at the court in Corus, the capital of Tortall.  Only Corum, Alanna's trusted friend and guardian knows her secret and helps her when he can.  Alanna works extremely hard to overcome her smallness and the beatings of a much larger bully.  In town one day Alanna (in the guise of Alan) meets George Cooper, the King of Thieves who takes her under his wing and teaches her how to fight.  Between this and all her extra work at her Page lessons, Alanna earns her place among her fellow Pages and Squires.  She

eventually befriends the Prince Jonathan, and her ability with the Gift is revealed when she uses it to heal him after an awful illness called the Sweating Sickness sweeps through the city, killing many.  It is thought that the illness was sent by a sorcerer, who may have targeted the royal family.  After saving the prince, he and Alanna, along with a few other guys get to be good enough friends that she introduces them to George, who in turn helps them by keeping an eye on the city.  Eventually Alanna gets older, and as it goes, hits puberty.  Since she has no mother, and not female to talk to, Alanna is understandably freaked out by her first period and goes to George's mother, a healer to find out what is what.  Mrs. Cooper explains the birds and the bees to her and gives her a charm against pregnancy and encourages her to be a girl when she can. She also let's George in on the fact that she is a girl.  The prince's cousin, Roger the Duke of Conte arrives to teach the pages/squire's with the Gift how to use it. A bunch of stuff happens (don't you love how I skip over all this stuff in every rambling :-) )   The bunch of them head off to hang out at Persopolis, an oasis city in the middle of the desert.  In site of the encampment is the Black City, an evil place that compels people to come and they are never seen again.  Roger, goad/tricks Jonathan into going to the city and Alanna follows him.  They confront an ancient evil called the Ysandir and defeat them using Alanna and the princes combined Gifts.  In the process, Prince Jonathan discovers that Alanna is really a girl.  He decides he is ok with this, agrees to keep it a secret and the book ends with him choosing her as his squire once he is knighted.

This is one of those books where a lot of stuff happens very quickly.  If I remember correctly just this book spans the course of at least 5 years and each page if packed full of stuff.  Most of the events are pretty simply described, with out a whole lot of detail or angst, and while this makes things a bit quick, it keeps the pace up.  This book, and series in general is pretty cool in that the main message is that it is ok to be yourself.  Alanna is hellbent on being a knight, even at the tender age of 11 and she thinks this means she pretty much has to turn herself into a boy.  While this is true to some degree, she learns that it does not have to be her whole life.  Through out the book, she is lucky enough to have several people encourage her to be who she wants to be, if that's a knight, great go for it, but don't let that completely squash your femininity if you don't want it to.  I really like the idea that it is ok to be whatever, a girl who likes to swing swords and wear a pretty pair of earrings.  A boy who wants a quieter life of study, but is still able to ride a horse like a pro.  Just because you like one thing, or are good at something, does not automatically mean the rest of your life has to follow suite.

 I also really like how hard Alanna has to work to achieve her goal.  Besides her Gift (which she is afraid of AND many other people also have), she is not all that special.  She is small so she has to work extra hard just to be as good as the other guys.  Through out the book (and the series) she makes no secret of the fact that there are some things she will probably never be good at.  The only real "convenient" part that bugs me a bit, is her ability to have people fall head over heels to help her out of most situations.  George Cooper, while a great character, for some reason decides to take the scrawny little Page under his wing even before he knows she is a girl, same with the Prince (though I guess saving his life helped with that).  It is a bit convenient for her to have a lot of support in a time and place where she should have very little.  As this is a reread, I always like to compare the first time I read it to subsequent rereads.  In this case, I still love the book, but found it to be a bit simpler then I remember.  The time frame in which it is written makes it go fast, and certain things go unexamined and stuff gets glossed over. I think it is a great first book in this series and is a great pace for a younger reader to really get into.  I love it for anybody who struggles with reconciling who they are with what they do, or what they like.  It has adventure, intrigue, swords and magic and it will always have a spot on my shelf.  I give it 7 out of 10 crystal swords.
What books do you feel like rereading this year?  Do you have changing feelings about books you reread?  What would a sword fighting tutu look like?